Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia: Past, Present and Future

Gary J Bennett1 and C Peter N Watson2

1Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Dentistry, and The Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada2Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The history behind the current understanding of the varicella-zoster virus and its relationship to the pain conditions caused by shingles and postherpetic neuralgia are reviewed. The framework for the current conceptualization is Hope-Simpson’s latency hypothesis. Data from recent work in virology, neuroanatomy and epidemiology are reviewed, as is work using varicella-zoster virus-infected animals. The recent data largely confirm Hope-Simpson’s hypothesis and extend it significantly.